The unWISE Catalog contains the positions and fluxes of roughly two billion objects observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) over the full sky. The unWISE Catalog has two advantages over the existing WISE catalog (AllWISE): first, it is based on significantly deeper imaging, and second, it features improved modeling of crowded regions. The deeper imaging used in the unWISE Catalog comes from the coaddition of all publicly available 3-5 micron WISE imaging, including that from the ongoing NEOWISE-Reactivation mission, thereby increasing the total exposure time by a factor of 5 relative to AllWISE. At these depths, even at high Galactic latitudes many sources are blended with their neighbors; accordingly, the unWISE analysis simultaneously fits thousands of sources to obtain accurate photometry. The unWISE catalog detects sources at 5 sigma roughly 0.7 magnitudes fainter than the AllWISE catalog and more accurately models millions of faint sources in the Galactic plane, enabling a wealth of Galactic and extragalactic science. In particular, relative to AllWISE, unWISE doubles the number of galaxies detected between redshifts 0 and 1 and triples the number between redshifts 1 and 2, cataloging more than half a billion galaxies over the whole sky.
Vela-Carina is the fourth in a series of large area projects to map selected regions of the Galactic plane using the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera (IRAC). The Vela-Carina project (PID=40791) (Majewski et al. 2007, Zasowski et al. 2009) extended GLIMPSE-style coverage (two 1.2 second integrations at each position) to Galactic longitudes 255◦< l < 295◦ covering 86 square degrees of the Carina and Vela regions of the Galactic plane.
The Vela-Carina Archive (VelaCarA or the “Archive”), consists of point sources with a signal- to-noise > 5 in at least one band and less stringent selection critera than the Catalog. The photometric uncertainty is typically < 0.3 mag. The information provided is in the same format as the Catalog. The Catalog is a subset of the Archive, but note that the entries for a particular source might not be the same due to additional nulling of magnitudes in the Catalog because of the more stringent requirements.
Vela-Carina is the fourth in a series of large area projects to map selected regions of the Galactic plane using the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera (IRAC). The Vela-Carina project (PID=40791) (Majewski et al. 2007, Zasowski et al. 2009) extended GLIMPSE-style coverage (two 1.2 second integrations at each position) to Galactic longitudes 255◦< l < 295◦ covering 86 square degrees of the Carina and Vela regions of the Galactic plane.
The Vela-Carina Catalog (VelaCarC, or the “Catalog”), consists of the highest reliability point sources. To be in the Catalog, sources must be detected at least twice in one IRAC band and at least once in an adjacent band, which we call a “2+1” criterion, where the “1” can include the 2MASS Ks band. This yields a Vela-Carina Catalog with a reliability greater than 99.5%; that is, only five sources in a thousand are expected to be spurious. For each IRAC band the Catalog provides fluxes (with uncertainties), positions (with uncer- tainties), the areal density of local point sources, the local sky brightness, and a flag that provides information on source quality and known anomalies present in the data.
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright et al. 2010) mapped the sky at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm (W1, W2, W3, W4) in 2010 with an angular resolution of 6.1", 6.4", 6.5", & 12.0" in the four bands. WISE achieved 5σ point source sensitivities better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic in the four bands. Sensitivity improves toward the ecliptic poles due to denser coverage and lower zodiacal background.
The All-Sky Release includes all data taken during the WISE full cryogenic mission phase, 7 January 2010 to 6 August 2010, that were processed with improved calibrations and reduction algorithms. Release data products include an Atlas of 18,240 match-filtered, calibrated and coadded image sets, a Source Catalog containing positional and photometric information for over 563 million objects detected on the WISE images, and an Explanatory Supplement that is a guide to the format, content, characteristics and cautionary notes for the WISE All-Sky Release products.
The WISE All-Sky Data Release Single-exposure Source Working Database contains positions and brightness information, uncertainties, time of observation and assorted quality flags for 9,479,433,101 "sources" detected on the individual WISE 7.7s (W1 and W2) and 8.8s (W3 and W4) Single-exposure images. Because WISE scanned every point on the sky multiple times, the Single-exposure Database contains multiple, independent measurements of objects on the sky.
Entries in the Single-exposure Source Table include detections of real astrophysical objects, as well as spurious detections of low SNR noise excursions, transient events such as hot pixels, charged particle strikes and satellite streaks, and image artifacts light from bright sources including the moon. Many of the unreliable detections are flagged in the Single-exposure Table, but they have not been filtered out as they were for the Source Catalog. Therefore, the Table must be used with caution. Users are strongly encouraged to read the Cautionary Notes before using the Table.
WISE All-Sky Known Solar System Object Possible Association List
Short Name:
WISE All-Sky SSO
Date:
01 Oct 2018 20:27:16
Publisher:
NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive
Description:
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright et al. 2010) mapped the sky at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm (W1, W2, W3, W4) in 2010 with an angular resolution of 6.1", 6.4", 6.5", & 12.0" in the four bands. WISE achieved 5σ point source sensitivities better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic in the four bands. Sensitivity improves toward the ecliptic poles due to denser coverage and lower zodiacal background.
The All-Sky Release includes all data taken during the WISE full cryogenic mission phase, 7 January 2010 to 6 August 2010, that were processed with improved calibrations and reduction algorithms. Release data products include an Atlas of 18,240 match-filtered, calibrated and coadded image sets, a Source Catalog containing positional and photometric information for over 563 million objects detected on the WISE images, and an Explanatory Supplement that is a guide to the format, content, characteristics and cautionary notes for the WISE All-Sky Release products.
The Known Solar System Object Possible Associations List is a compendium of asteroids, comets, planets or planetary satellites, with orbits known at the time of WISE second-pass data processing, that were predicted to be within the field-of-view at the time of individual WISE exposures. Individual objects were observed multiple times, so may have multiple entries in the list. When the predicted position of a solar system object is in proximity to a detection in the WISE single-exposures, the WISE source position and brightness information are also provided.
The WISE All-Sky Data Release Single-exposure Source Working Database contains positions and brightness information, uncertainties, time of observation and assorted quality flags for 9,479,433,101 "sources" detected on the individual WISE 7.7s (W1 and W2) and 8.8s (W3 and W4) Single-exposure images. Because WISE scanned every point on the sky multiple times, the Single-exposure Database contains multiple, independent measurements of objects on the sky.
Entries in the Single-exposure Source Table include detections of real astrophysical objects, as well as spurious detections of low SNR noise excursions, transient events such as hot pixels, charged particle strikes and satellite streaks, and image artifacts light from bright sources including the moon. Many of the unreliable detections are flagged in the Single-exposure Table, but they have not been filtered out as they were for the Source Catalog. Therefore, the Table must be used with caution. Users are strongly encouraged to read the Cautionary Notes before using the Table.
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright et al. 2010) mapped the sky at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm (W1, W2, W3, W4) in 2010 with an angular resolution of 6.1", 6.4", 6.5", & 12.0" in the four bands. WISE achieved 5σ point source sensitivities better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic in the four bands. Sensitivity improves toward the ecliptic poles due to denser coverage and lower zodiacal background.
The All-Sky Release includes all data taken during the WISE full cryogenic mission phase, 7 January 2010 to 6 August 2010, that were processed with improved calibrations and reduction algorithms. Release data products include an Atlas of 18,240 match-filtered, calibrated and coadded image sets, a Source Catalog containing positional and photometric information for over 563 million objects detected on the WISE images, and an Explanatory Supplement that is a guide to the format, content, characteristics and cautionary notes for the WISE All-Sky Release products.
The WISE All-Sky Data Release Single-exposure Source Working Database contains positions and brightness information, uncertainties, time of observation and assorted quality flags for 9,479,433,101 "sources" detected on the individual WISE 7.7s (W1 and W2) and 8.8s (W3 and W4) Single-exposure images. Because WISE scanned every point on the sky multiple times, the Single-exposure Database contains multiple, independent measurements of objects on the sky.
Entries in the Single-exposure Source Table include detections of real astrophysical objects, as well as spurious detections of low SNR noise excursions, transient events such as hot pixels, charged particle strikes and satellite streaks, and image artifacts light from bright sources including the moon. Many of the unreliable detections are flagged in the Single-exposure Table, but they have not been filtered out as they were for the Source Catalog. Therefore, the Table must be used with caution. Users are strongly encouraged to read the Cautionary Notes before using the Table.
WISE All-Sky Single Exposure (L1b) Frame Metadata Table
Short Name:
WISE All-Sky FMT
Date:
01 Oct 2018 20:27:16
Publisher:
NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive
Description:
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright et al. 2010) mapped the sky at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm (W1, W2, W3, W4) in 2010 with an angular resolution of 6.1", 6.4", 6.5", & 12.0" in the four bands. WISE achieved 5σ point source sensitivities better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic in the four bands. Sensitivity improves toward the ecliptic poles due to denser coverage and lower zodiacal background.
The All-Sky Release includes all data taken during the WISE full cryogenic mission phase, 7 January 2010 to 6 August 2010, that were processed with improved calibrations and reduction algorithms. Release data products include an Atlas of 18,240 match-filtered, calibrated and coadded image sets, a Source Catalog containing positional and photometric information for over 563 million objects detected on the WISE images, and an Explanatory Supplement that is a guide to the format, content, characteristics and cautionary notes for the WISE All-Sky Release products.
The WISE All-Sky Data Release Single-exposure Source Working Database contains positions and brightness information, uncertainties, time of observation and assorted quality flags for 9,479,433,101 "sources" detected on the individual WISE 7.7s (W1 and W2) and 8.8s (W3 and W4) Single-exposure images. Because WISE scanned every point on the sky multiple times, the Single-exposure Database contains multiple, independent measurements of objects on the sky.
Entries in the Single-exposure Source Table include detections of real astrophysical objects, as well as spurious detections of low SNR noise excursions, transient events such as hot pixels, charged particle strikes and satellite streaks, and image artifacts light from bright sources including the moon. Many of the unreliable detections are flagged in the Single-exposure Table, but they have not been filtered out as they were for the Source Catalog. Therefore, the Table must be used with caution. Users are strongly encouraged to read the Cautionary Notes before using the Table.
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright et al. 2010) mapped the sky at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm (W1, W2, W3, W4) in 2010 with an angular resolution of 6.1", 6.4", 6.5", & 12.0" in the four bands. WISE achieved 5σ point source sensitivities better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic in the four bands. Sensitivity improves toward the ecliptic poles due to denser coverage and lower zodiacal background.
The All-Sky Release includes all data taken during the WISE full cryogenic mission phase, 7 January 2010 to 6 August 2010, that were processed with improved calibrations and reduction algorithms. Release data products include an Atlas of 18,240 match-filtered, calibrated and coadded image sets, a Source Catalog containing positional and photometric information for over 563 million objects detected on the WISE images, and an Explanatory Supplement that is a guide to the format, content, characteristics and cautionary notes for the WISE All-Sky Release products.
The WISE All-Sky Data Release Single-exposure Source Working Database contains positions and brightness information, uncertainties, time of observation and assorted quality flags for 9,479,433,101 "sources" detected on the individual WISE 7.7s (W1 and W2) and 8.8s (W3 and W4) Single-exposure images. Because WISE scanned every point on the sky multiple times, the Single-exposure Database contains multiple, independent measurements of objects on the sky.
Entries in the Single-exposure Source Table include detections of real astrophysical objects, as well as spurious detections of low SNR noise excursions, transient events such as hot pixels, charged particle strikes and satellite streaks, and image artifacts light from bright sources including the moon. Many of the unreliable detections are flagged in the Single-exposure Table, but they have not been filtered out as they were for the Source Catalog. Therefore, the Table must be used with caution. Users are strongly encouraged to read the Cautionary Notes before using the Table.
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright et al. 2010) mapped the sky at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm (W1, W2, W3, W4) in 2010 with an angular resolution of 6.1", 6.4", 6.5", & 12.0" in the four bands. WISE achieved 5σ point source sensitivities better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic in the four bands. Sensitivity improves toward the ecliptic poles due to denser coverage and lower zodiacal background.
The All-Sky Release includes all data taken during the WISE full cryogenic mission phase, 7 January 2010 to 6 August 2010, that were processed with improved calibrations and reduction algorithms. Release data products include an Atlas of 18,240 match-filtered, calibrated and coadded image sets, a Source Catalog containing positional and photometric information for over 563 million objects detected on the WISE images, and an Explanatory Supplement that is a guide to the format, content, characteristics and cautionary notes for the WISE All-Sky Release products.
The WISE 3-Band Cryo Data Release products are comprised of data taken during the mission's 3-Band Cryo survey phase. This phase covers the time following the exhaustion of solid hydrogen in the WISE payload outer cryogen tank, while the detectors and telescope were still cooled by the inner cryogen tank. During this time, WISE's W1, W2 and W3 bands were operational and continued to acquire useful data, but the W4 detector was saturated by thermal emission from the warming telescope. The sensitivity achieved in the W1 and W2 bands was similar to that during the full cryogenic mission phase. The W3 measurement sensitivity was degraded and decreased steadily during the 3-Band Cryo phase because of the increasing telescope temperature and decreasing exposure times. WISE scanned approximately 30% of the sky during the 3-Band Cryo survey phase continuing with the same strategy that was used during the full cryogenic survey.
The following table contains brief descriptions of all metadata information that is relevant to the production of the Atlas images and Source Catalog. The table contains the (RA, DEC) of the center of the Tile. Much of the information in this table is processing-specific and may not be of interest to general users (e.g., flags indicating whether frames have been processed successfully or not, and the date and time of the start of the pipeline processing, etc.). The metadata table also contains some characterization and derived statistics of the coadd image Tile, basic photometric parameters used for photometry and derived statistics for extracted sources and artifacts. For example, it contains median pixel values of the coadded sky coverage map, the number of sources with profile-fit photometry Signal-to-Noise (SNR) greater than 3, and the total number of real sources affected by artifacts such as optical ghosts, etc.
